2. History of Medicine and
Public Health & Dawn of
Scientific Medicine
MEDICINE IN ANTIQUITY
• Medicine was dominated by
magical and religious beliefs
which were an integral part of
ancient cultures and civilization.
• Medicine consisted of appeasing
God, rituals, sacrifices.
• Treatment was by priests ,witch
doctors and prayer men.
PRIMITIVE MEDICINE
• Religion,
philosophy
and
medicine were integral part of
civilization.
• Religion recognized multiplicity
of Gods, both Good and bad
evil.
• Philosophy
accepted
the
influence inanimate bodies like
sun, moon, star, fire on living
bodies.
Contd.
• Thus a co-relation of these
with health and disease was
established in primitive ages.
• One concept was that an evil
spirits enter in the body
directly and following evil
actions.
Contd..
• Another concept was that an evil
spirit as a messenger of God
giving warning in a form of
disease.
• Some other concept was a
human enemy with supernatural
powers, send evil spirit to harm
others. The soul of dead
ancestors influencing his family
members were an other belief.
•DAWN OF SCIENTIFIC
MEDICINE
DAWN OF SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE(after 1500 AD)
Marked by political, industrial,
religious and medical revolution
• Political revolution took place in
France and America, people
claming their rights.
• The industrial revolution in the
west brought great benefits leading
to an improvement in the standard
of living among people.
• With
advancing
degrees
of
civilization, medicine also evolved.
DAWN OF SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE(after 1500Contd..
AD)
• Paracelcius (1493-1541) who
revived medicine.
• He was born at the time
when Europe was in bed of
darkness.
Contd.
• Fracastorius (1483-1553) an Italian physician said that “the
theory of contagion”. He investigated the transfer of
infection via minute invisible particles and explain the cause
of epidemics.
• William Harvey (1628) is famous for his discovery that blood
circulates around the human body and it flows in one
direction.
• Ambroise Pare (1510-1590) a French army surgen did for
surgery and earned the title ‘’father of surgery”.
SANITARY AWAKENING
• Another historic milestone in the evolution of medicine is “Great
Sanitary Awakening” – which took place in Mid nineteenth in England
and gradually spread to other countries.
• Industrial revolution of 18th century sparked off numerous problems
like
• Creation of Slums,
• Overcrowding,
• with all its ill effects,
• accumulation of filth in cities and town,.
Contd.
• High Sickness And
• Death Rates Specially Among Women And Children.,
• Infectious Disease Like Tuberculosis,
• Industrial And
• Social Problems
The Mean Age at Death In London Was Reported To Be 44
Years
Contd..
Contd.
• The great cholera epidemic of 1832
led Edwin Chadwick (1800-1890), a
lawyer in England investigate the
health of the inhabitants of the large
town with a view to improve the
conditions under which they lived.
• Chadwick’s report on the “The
Sanitary Condition of the Labouring
Population in Great Britain”.
Contd.
• Chadwick report focused the attention
of the people and government on the
urgent need to improve public Health.
• Great sanitary awakening which led to
the performing
• of the public Health Act of 1848 in
England
• --State has a direct responsibility for the
health of the people.
RISE OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Sanitary awakening lead to the birth of the concept of public
health in England around 1840.
The Public Health administration in India actually started in
1869 with the appointment of a Sanitary Commission.
The first Municipal Act was passed in 1884 in Bengal.
 John Snow (1848-1854) established the role of polluted
drinking water in the spread of cholera.
William Budd (1856) outbreak of typhoid fever in the rural
north of England
Contd.
• This early phase of public health (1880--1920) is often called
the “disease control phase”.
• Efforts were directed entirely towards general cleanliness,
garbage and refuse disposal.
• Public health made rapid strides in the western world, its
progress has been slow in developing countries such as India,
where the main health problems continue to be those faced
by the western world 100 years ago.
Contd.
• The establishment of the WHO providing a Health Charter
for all people provided a great fillip to the public health
movement in different countries.
Germ theory of disease
• Several theories were advanced from time to time to explain
disease causation such as supernatural theory of disease etc,
• The breakthrough came in 1860, when the French
bacteriologist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) demonstrate the
presence of bacteria in air.
• In 1873 Pasteur advanced the “germ theory of disease” after
rejecting the theory of “spontaneous generation”.
Contd.
Germ theory of disease
• The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory
of disease. It states that many diseases are caused by
microorganisms.
• These small organisms, too small to see without magnification, invade
humans, animals, and other living hosts.
• Their growth and reproduction within their hosts can cause disease.
• 1877 Robert Koch showed that anthrax was caused by bacteria.
• The discoveries of Pasture and Koch confirmed the germ theory of
disease.
Contd.
Pasteurization
Contd.
Contd.
Contd.
Contd.
Contd.
Contd.